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China's retailers to spend $1bn on IT

Boom in consumer spending driving IT uptake

China's retail industry will spend more than $1bn on IT annually by 2011,
according to new forecasts.

However, foreign hardware and services firms bidding for a slice of the
growing market are facing ever more experienced local competition, analysts from
research firm
IDC warn.

Rapid expansion in the retail industry, which increased sales by almost 14
per cent last year, is driving adoption of technology-based management methods.

China's retailers sold more than $1tn worth of consumer goods to the
country's increasingly affluent populace in 2006.

"IDC has observed that retailers are increasingly looking for IT management
solutions after building up their infrastructure," said Freda Tong, a senior
analyst with IDC's China vertical research division.

"As a result, enterprise resource management, supply chain management and
business intelligence tools have become the most sought-after solutions in the
retail industry."

As retailers upgrade IT infrastructures they will increase spending at a
compound rate averaging 13.3 per cent per year, from $551.6m in 2006 to $1.029bn
in 2011, IDC forecasts predict.

"Over the past few years, retailers have placed more emphasis on IT systems
and are upgrading existing systems to ensure optimum business operations despite
limited funding," said Tong.

"This has paved the way for future large-scale IT projects and data analysis
and mining.

"IDC advises IT vendors targeting the retail industry to pay more attention
to IT management solutions, as these are increasingly crucial to improving
retail operations and accelerating expansion strategies."

However, foreign vendors will find that their local rivals are not only
better adapted to meeting some needs of local retailers, but are improving their
project implementation ability, the analyst said.